Aimee Spinks Photography Blog

Crew Call: Producer for Feature Film, ‘Vestige’

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS CREW CALL IS POSTED ON BEHALF OF ‘HELIOSPHERE PICTURES.’ FOR ANY ENQUIRIES, OR TO APPLY, EITHER CONTACT THEM THROUGH THEIR WEBSITE, OR FOR MEMBERS OF SHOOTING PEOPLE, APPLY THROUGH THE LINKS GIVEN. THANKS.
-aimeespinks.com

VESTIGE

VESTIGE is a historical adventure film which takes place in the very dawn of medieval Europe, the Dark Ages.
After a 9th Century Frankish count learns his wife has been murdered, he goes on a deadly quest to find her killer, which becomes a journey of spiritual awakening.

Shoot Date: 1st Jun 2012 – 21st Jul 2012
Shoot Location: France
Production Company Name: Heliosphere Pictures
Budget: Up to £1,000,000
Genre: Drama
Form: Feature
More film details: http://shootingpeople.org/castcrew/project/view/1574

Positions on Film:

Producer
We are looking for a passionate, reliable and trustworthy producer with personal connections in the film industry to help find investors and raise a budget of €300,000 for a feature film.

Pay rate: €4500 for the project
Apply: http://shootingpeople.org/collaborate/crew/view/4895

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Casting Call: Presenter Needed for Online Tech Show

Please note that this is a casting call placed on behalf of the production company, iBrow. To apply, either contact them through their website: http://www.ibrow.com/ or, if you have a Shooting People account, you can apply using the links below.

Online Tech Show

We’re looking for talent to host an online tech show. We’ll be regularly posting content online about the latest trends and gadgets, from mobile phones to games and apps. The content will be used in a space that already has a large online following, so there’s potential for some great exposure.

Shoot Date: 1st Feb 2012 – 1st Jan 2013

Shoot Location: International

Production Company Name: ibrow

Budget: Up to £100,000

Form: Short

Is project insured: Yes

More film details: http://shootingpeople.org/castcrew/project/view/2109

Roles on Film:

Presenter/Reporter

We’re looking for a presenter/reporter to front short sketches about all the latest products and trends in the tech world.

Role will involve interviewing people, chatting about the latest innovations in a informative but humorous manner.

This could be a long term role

Following criteria essential:

- Rich online social following (twitter followers and or run a blog that gets good traffic)

- Friendly, approachable presence

- Sense of humour

- Good at ad-libbing vs reading from a script

Pay rate: £250 – £400 per day

Appearance details:

Playing Range: 20-30

Apply: http://shootingpeople.org/collaborate/cast/view/4825

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Casting: Actors and Actresses for UK Feature Film

Please note that this casting call is being placed on behalf of Silly Wee Films and I am not responsible for any casting of this production. All enquiries and applications should be addressed to Fraser Coull at www.sillyweefilms.co.uk

Get Funded
Get Funded sees the adventures of three determined filmmakers, Chris, Katie and Mark, as they take their blockbuster screenplay to investors, only to get the door slammed on their face constantly. Determined not to give up and follow their dreams, our heroes are forced to question their morality as they embark on a life of crime… robbing little old ladies tearooms and robbing small banks in the remote parts of the country!

Shoot Date: 9th Jul 2012 – 10th Aug 2012
Shoot Location: Great Britain
Shoot Region: Scotland
Production Company Name: Silly Wee Films
Production Company Url: http://www.facebook.com/GetFundedMovie
Budget: Up to £1,000,000
Genre: Comedy
Form: Feature
Is project insured: Yes
More film details: http://shootingpeople.org/castcrew/project/view/2020

ROLES ON FILM:

Mark
Mark is still living at home with his disapproving father constantly trying to convince his son that a career in filmmaking is nothing more than fanciful and he should take a job in a call centre “just in case” while his doting mum just wants to keep everybody happy. Mark is the heart of the team and all he wants is to write films that matter to people.

Is position paid: Yes
Pay rate: £200

Apply: http://shootingpeople.org/collaborate/cast/view/4620

Katie
Katie has just moved into her own little flat to escape the controlling nature of her mother, while her younger sister, Michelle, is doing her best to play the rebel in the family, forcing Katie to step in to keep the peace between her sister and their mum. Katie is the brains of the operation and is the most grounded of the three.

Is position paid: Yes
Pay rate: £200 per day

Apply: http://shootingpeople.org/collaborate/cast/view/4622

Michelle
Michelle – Katie’s younger, rebellious sister. Left at home with her mum, she wishes she could live with Katie in her one bedroom flat, to escape her over bearing mother. Katie gets roped into helping our heroes in the hope of getting to move out from her family home.

Is position paid: Yes
Pay rate: £200 per day

Apply: http://shootingpeople.org/collaborate/cast/view/4623

Mark’s Dad
Mark’s dad is a realist. He believes that his son’s career in filmmaking is a pipe dream and he should settle down for a regular job. He finds it difficult to understand what his son is looking for in life.

Is position paid: Yes
Pay rate: £200 per day

Apply: http://shootingpeople.org/collaborate/cast/view/4624

Mark’s Mum
Mark’s mum is your typically nice mum, supportive, friendly and will do anything to help her son be happy.

Is position paid: Yes
Pay rate: £200 per day

Apply: http://shootingpeople.org/collaborate/cast/view/4625

Tony
Tony is an over-confident, cocky filmmaker whose directorial debut wins a prestigious award. He is Chris’s mortal enemy and always seems to get on up on him. He’s a very slimy, smug character.

Is position paid: Yes
Pay rate: £200 per day

Apply: http://shootingpeople.org/collaborate/cast/view/4626

Lara
Lara is Michelle’s best friend who dresses older than she is and has a crush on Mark. She appears at the community centre to support the heroes film night and makes it very obvious that she is in love with Mark.

Is position paid: Yes
Pay rate: £200 per day

Apply: http://shootingpeople.org/collaborate/cast/view/4627

Moxy McDade
Moxy is the cousin’s neice of William McDade. She’s very pretty, looks like a movie star, confident and wonderful in front of people, but is truly shy and trying to do the best job she can as an actress.

Is position paid: Yes
Pay rate: £200 per day

Apply: http://shootingpeople.org/collaborate/cast/view/4628

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Casting: Actor Needed for Innovative Short Film

The following is a casting call from Justin Tagg. All questions and applications must be sent to him using the links provided in the casting call. To view a trailer, mood boards and storyboards for the project, visit: http://www.behance.net/gallery/Mouse/2486621

MOUSE is an innovative short about a man trying to escape a giant human experiment where he is only one of a thousand clones of himself.

The fact that this film is being shot on a low budget is an opportunity, not a problem. Shooting with no dialogue and mostly one location makes it all about the craft.

This is sci-fi at it’s best, marrying big ideas with little insights into human nature that show us the world in a way we have not seen it in a long, long time. If at all.

Shoot Date: 1st Mar 2012 – 31st Mar 2012
Shoot Location: Great Britain
Shoot Region: East Midlands
Is this a student project: Yes
Production Company Name: carpediemfilms
Production Company Url: http://www.behance.net/gallery/Mouse/2486621
Budget: Up to £1,000
Genre: Drama
Form: Short
Is project insured: No
More film details: http://shootingpeople.org/castcrew/project/view/1649

Roles on Film:

Anderson
This is a non-speaking part but, needless to say, this does not make it a redundant role. The film has only one character and his relationship with the realisation he is not the only ‘Anderson’ has the potential to be very moving.

We are looking for a relatively generic look, handsome but with no distinctive features.

Is position paid: Yes
Pay rate: £110 per day
Appearance details:
Height: 6’0″
Playing Range: 30-40
Hair Colour: Brown

Apply: http://shootingpeople.org/collaborate/cast/view/3783

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Casting: 2 Actresses for Northern Irish Short Film

The following is a casting call from Civiro Productions. Any questions should be directed to them and not to Aimee Spinks Photography. Good luck!

Short Film Hearth

Auditions for a short film to be filmed week beginning Monday 23rd January 2012
To be shot on location in COUNTY DOWN in and around Crawfordsburn Country Park and in Belfast.

Auditions 28th and 29th December 10.00-15.00
Digital Art Studios
Queen Street
Belfast

2 actresses required

Shoot Date: 23rd Jan 2012 – 27th Jan 2012
Shoot Location: Ireland
Shoot Region: Northern Ireland
Is this a student project: No
Production Company Name: Civiro Productions
Genre: Drama
Form: Short
Is project insured: Yes
More film details: http://shootingpeople.org/castcrew/project/view/1974

Roles on Film:
Character 1
Middle aged single mother with an only son.
Dragged down sense of self. Interested in spirituality/struggling with life.
Age profile 45-55
Physical appearance- middle aged, a bit dowdy
Northern irish accent
Caucasian
Approx 5′ 4″- 5’6″
Is position paid: Yes
Pay rate: £100 per day

Appearance details:
Height: 5’6″
Playing Range: 45-55
Apply: http://shootingpeople.org/collaborate/cast/view/4513

Character 2
Middle aged single woman, smart, academic, career oriented from East Coast America on sabbatical from her University. Researching Ulster/Scots roots and writing paper on folk ways and histories including witchcraft.
Well dressed, articulate, confident
American East coast accent, could be NYC
Cauacasian
Slim
Height approx 5’6″-5’8″
Is position paid: Yes
Pay rate: £100 per day
Appearance details:
Height: 5’6″
Playing Range: 40-50
Apply: http://shootingpeople.org/collaborate/cast/view/4514

For further details please contact Colin on 07801926600

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Aston Hall Photoshoot

Several months ago, Aston Hall in Birmingham, invited myself and fellow tog, Adam Hale, into their beautiful building to conduct a fashion shoot.
As a collaboration between local make-up artists, stylists, models and of course photographers, we spent the entire day shooting across various rooms of the Grade I listed Jacobean mansion, including the huge long gallery as pictured with model, Anna ‘Paranoya’ Lenart, below.

©Aimee Spinks

Differing from my normal approach to shoots that often involves ridiculous amounts of meticulous planning, this shoot was very organic. Once we had the models getting ready in make-up and wardrobe, Adam and I scouted out the mansion to plan out a rough set of shots we wanted to achieve. One of the main things we wanted to create were a series of tableaux shots offering a bit more character and narrative to the scene alongside the individually posed shots. Having limited lights and a temperamental set of radio triggers, we were forced to set up scenes, mount the camera to a tripod and then take several shots with the lights in different places in order to create a multiple exposure that saw the light where we needed it to be.

©Aimee Spinks

It was a wonderful opportunity to shoot in the building and it’s not at all surprising it’s had lots of local media attention and appearances on TV shows like the locally filmed, ‘Gadget Show.’ All in all it was a good shoot and a great experience working with both Aston Hall and the local talent.

You can view the entire shoot here: http://www.aimeespinks.com/viewimage.php?imageid=212&category=1

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Double-Take Studios Closure

Image created by Dip Chandarana

Double-Take Studios, one of the UK’s largest commercial fashion and portraiture photography studios, yesterday closed its doors after 15 years in operation with studios in Birmingham, Manchester, London and Southampton all being shut down.

As a result the local photography markets have just got a lot less competitive. With some of Double-Take’s studios seeing up to 90 clients a day and being open seven days a week, a lot of freelance photographers are now able to tap into the portraiture market, offering their own, smaller scale services with a more personal and affordable approach.

Studio photography is a highly competitive market, particularly amongst portraiture and fashion photographers in Birmingham and London so though Double-Take’s closure means many of their freelance photographers and make-up artists are now without a steady flow of work, it does allow them to make the most out of a market that had been sucked almost dry by the commercial giant for many years.

On the other side of the coin we have many of Double-Take’s clients who now find themselves without the photoshoot and makeover they were looking forward to. With bookings made weeks in advance, that leaves hundreds of people in the Birmingham area alone potentially looking for alternative photographers and fashion studios to create the model portfolios and photographic gifts they may have been hoping to get before Christmas.

In light of Double-Take’s closure, Aimee Spinks Photography is offering clients 10% off a bespoke photoshoot booked before Christmas. All photo shoots are tailored specifically to each client to cover their needs in a way that suits them. Whether you are looking for studio portraits, a fashion portfolio, actor headshots or even promotional photography for your business, Aimee Spinks is available to work at a location of your choice or in the studio in Birmingham.

Costs are discussed with the client up front with no hidden fees or strings attached with each quote tailored to each individual shoot, allowing you to get the most out of your money and experience.
Aimee regularly works as a promotional photographer for film and TV and has had work published in books and national magazines as well have having had work exhibited in galleries across the country.

You can view Aimee Spinks’s portfolio here: http://www.aimeespinks.com/

If you would like any more information, or would like to book a shoot with 10% off, please contact Aimee either on 07765258666 or via aimee@spinxphotography.com !

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Vigilante Release

To view in HD visit the film on Vimeo here. Don’t forget to full screen it!

Well it’s been a big project but finally Vigilante is finished and out in the open!

Several months prep and post work went into the shoot that lasted for 2 days and shot with only a four man crew; myself, actors Rob and Karen along with the fabulous make-up artist Bethany Davies. It was hard work but seeing it all come together is fantastic! Words can’t express my thanks to all those involved!

Matt Walch did an exceptional job on the music and I look forward to working with him again on future projects. A big thank you to everyone who donated mugshots to the newspaper cut-outs and to Ed Siddall-Jones at Nattrass Giles for providing the location (quite possibly the best location I have ever shot in)!

You can view individual stills of the film here and read other related articles relating to the making of the film including a tour of the location here and printing the fake newspapers here.

I hope you all enjoy watching as much as I enjoyed making it!

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2 Weeks 2 Make It WM 2011

Fellow tog Jak Flash and I recently decided to have a play around with some cinematography and we thought what better way to get our arses into gear than to enter a competition that gives us a very strict deadline.

And so we put together a team of 7 to enter the 2 Weeks 2 Make It WM music video competition. We were randomly paired with Leamington Spa based band, Valhalla Smith and were given 2 weeks to create a music video for their song, “Portion of Blame.”

Our team, named the Tricksters, comprised of:

• Myself as producer and DOP
• Jak Flash as Creative Director
• John Hill-Daniel as Director
• Anneliese Cherrington as Production Manager
• Leigh Nicholls as our main camera op (John, Jak, Adam and myself also filmed some parts)
• Adam Hale as our lighting and camera assistant
• Alex Peerman as our editor

Despite a shaky start and lots of hurdles, we managed to complete our video and submit it in time.  The video, inspired by the lyrics, looks at the personification of guilt and how we often refuse to admit that the blame truly lies with ourselves. The shards of mirror that appear to kill each person the protagonist encounters, is representative of the damage he does to those around him with his inability to accept responsibility for his actions.

Although the end result isn’t quite the project we envisioned at the start, we are happy with what we have accomplished and we all feel we have learned a lot in the process. It was a pleasure working with the crew and band (who I will no doubt check out again at a gig as they are an amazing live band) as well as our fabulously talented actors Louis Murrall and Jo Ryan.

Please show your support by visiting the Public Voting Page and voting for our video.

Below are a selection of stills from the shoot:

All images ©Copyright Aimee Spinks 2011

The awards night will take place at the Herbert Gallery and Museum in Coventry on Thursday 16th with all public votes being counted up until then so please show your support!

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BBC’s ‘Doctors’

T’other week I had a delicious 5:30am start to get onto the set of BBC’s Doctors for 8 to shadow DOP, Ted Ames.

I met Ted whilst working on Matt Chambers’ (Dr. Daniel Granger, Doctors) short film, For the Love of Eli, the stills for which can be viewed here.

He invited me on set of Doctors to observe the logistics, creative and technical elements behind the low budget TV drama. The first thing that staggered me was the speed of shooting. Blocking and rehearsals were done in a matter of minutes before lighting was rigged up and a scene filmed.

It was my first time inside a purpose built studio set with more lights than people and removable panel walls making shooting in seemingly small rooms a whole lot easier. The aim of my visit was to learn as much as I could about the kit and processes in place on a busy commercial set and I made the most of my time talking to Ted, the camera crew and the sparks to learn what I could.

The 'Doctors,' crew

'Doctors,' DOP; Ted Ames

The lighting setups were very straight forward and mainly involved the deployment of 350 and 650 watt tungsten balanced Arri lights with a daylight gel alongside a Kino or two. Below are a few quick reference shots to the setup of one particular scene shot in Dr Carmichael’s office.

'Doctors,' lighting set-ups

'Doctors,' lighting set-ups

'Doctors,' lighting set-ups

As you can see, the interior is lit by a Kino about a metre away from where the cast would be (I was not permitted to photograph the artistes), and an Arri shooting through the glass window. Additional lights were setup around the office to illuminate any exterior areas that might make it into shot through the open door. This was primarily done with a few Arri’s bouncing the light to keep it soft and unobtrusive to the key scene.

What I loved about the studio was the fact that there were so many lights that nothing needed to be taken down between scene changes – additional lights were just brought in and the others were left standing. This saved so much time whereas on a set with more limited equipment, everything would have to be constantly set-up, taken down, moved and re-setup again and again. I would love to have those kinds of resources on projects – productivity would be through the roof and my creative ideas would know no bounds!

Dr. Carmichael's office

As well as the technical side of things, I also quizzed the crew on practical things like scheduling, expectations of product and budget on this kind of production. Being a perfectionist I hate releasing anything less than the best I can achieve (and then some) which although is great for maintaining high production values, can be detrimental to productions working to a tight schedule and small budget. As Scott put it: it’s better to hand over a completed script’s worth of work with a few small issues than a half-finished script of perfection – at least then you are keeping the client happy if not yourself!

Scene blocking

All in all it was a good day and I feel like I learned a lot, particularly in regards to the logistical side of things. My thanks go to Ted for inviting me along and putting up with my endless questions and to the crew for a good laugh because let’s face it; we’re never too old to draw a pair of tits in a notebook!

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